


Omega Shrill and Drop

by whitehorsetiger



Series: Pack Dynamics [12]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Lance (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Keith is having a Bad Time, M/M, Omega Keith (Voltron), instincts, omega drop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-20
Updated: 2019-06-20
Packaged: 2020-05-15 15:02:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19298143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitehorsetiger/pseuds/whitehorsetiger
Summary: Omega Shrill and Omega Drop are umbrella terms for a few different behaviours.Omega Shrill is used to describe the various noises omegas make in highly stressful situations. The different shrills sound similar, but an experienced listener can tell the difference.Omega Drop is a more serious condition. While also triggered by stress, a shrill is not necessarily a precursor to a drop. There are several different types of Omega Drop, with different triggers, but they can be separated into two categories. A True Drop is where the omega physically collapses, often losing consciousness. They frequently experience confusion after as well as physical and mental exhaustion, but suffer no long-term effects. A Feral Drop is a much rarer occurrence in which the omega will lose their sense of self and attack anyone nearby until exhausting themselves and losing consciousness. Upon awakening they may begin attacking again, and it can take an extended period of time for this cycle to break and for the omega to regain mental stability.Three shrills and three drops.





	Omega Shrill and Drop

_Omega Shrill and Omega Drop are umbrella terms for a few different behaviours._

_Omega Shrill is used to describe the various noises omegas make in highly stressful situations. The different shrills sound similar, but an experienced listener can tell the difference._

_Omega Drop is a more serious condition. While also triggered by stress, a shrill is not necessarily a precursor to a drop. There are several different types of Omega Drop, with different triggers, but they can be separated into two categories. A True Drop is where the omega physically collapses, often losing consciousness. They frequently experience confusion after as well as physical and mental exhaustion, but suffer no long-term effects. A Feral Drop is a much rarer occurrence in which the omega will lose their sense of self and attack anyone nearby until exhausting themselves and losing consciousness. Upon awakening they may begin attacking again, and it can take an extended period of time for this cycle to break and for the omega to regain mental stability._

****

** Shrill One – Distress **

Keith had thought he was finally pulling his life together. Thought that maybe, just maybe, life could be good for a change. He shouldn’t have thought. He shouldn’t have hoped that things could get better. Things would not get better. Things would _never_ get better.

Shiro was gone. Shiro was gone and Keith’s brain had stopped functioning. Keith had never shrilled before. He didn’t even realise he was doing it until he noticed the person who’d given him the news flinch. Forcing himself to stop the harrowing noise, Keith took a step back. Traitorous tears burned his eyes, but Keith would not let them fall.

“No,” Keith denied, shaking his head and continuing to back away. Shiro couldn’t be gone. He just couldn’t be gone. “No, he can’t be… No…”

“Keith, you need to understand.”

But Keith wasn’t listening to what the man was saying anymore.

Keith scrambled out of the room, taking off at a sprint down the corridor. His shrill alarmed everyone he passed, their eyes going wide. No one bothered trying to stop him though, instead, everyone seemed to move away. Good. Keith didn’t know what he would do if someone tried to approach him.

****

A few days later, Keith did find out what would happen to someone approaching him. He didn’t regret socking Iverson in the face; Iverson was a dick. He didn’t regret being kicked out of the garrison; without Shiro there was no point him being there. Keith’s only regret was that he didn’t get a second hit in.

****

** Drop One – Physical Exhaustion **

Keith was used to working himself to exhaustion—forcing himself past the point where he really should stop. It helped clear his mind, get a tight enough grip on his emotions to be able to rest. It wasn’t working. It just wasn’t working. Shiro was gone… _again_. Vanishing from the Black Lion like he was never even there.

Keith didn’t really know how long he’d been training—how many times he’d had his ass beaten down by the Gladiator. For his current state of mind, and the exhaustion weighing heavily in his bones, he had the Gladiator on much too high a level. The Gladiator did have a failsafe so it couldn’t kill him (other than that one time, but Coran had assured them that it was all fixed now), but it was designed for the much hardier Alteans. So the Gladiator would give him a right beat down before automatically shutting off.

The Gladiator’s staff slammed into his gut, sending Keith flying and knocking the breath out of him. He hit the ground hard, rolling away and groaning. Now would be a good time to end the training sequence, if he could get the breath to do it. The Gladiator was advancing on him, raising its staff in a menacing manor.

“End training sequence.”

Of all the people Keith was expecting to shout that, Allura was not one of them. She made her way over to him as the Gladiator dropped through the floor.

“Keith, are you alright?” she asked, holding a hand out.

Keith took it and immediately realised something was wrong. His head was pounding, legs shaking, spots dancing in front of his eyes. As the adrenaline drained, Keith felt like… like…

“I’m going to pass out.”

“What?” Allura asked.

Keith couldn’t reply, the darkness finally taking over his vision. He heard Allura shout in alarm, but couldn’t do anything except let the darkness take over.

****

Keith didn’t really know how long he was out but, when he came around, he was in his room, lit only by the gentle blue glow of the Castle. He was incredibly grateful for that, as it really helped with his pounding headache and, even though he’d just woken up, Keith was exhausted. He just couldn’t quite fall back asleep.

After laying in misery for some time, Keith heard a knock on his door. He very carefully pushed himself to sit up, resting a hand on his head. The headache had lessened, but was still throbbing behind his eyes.

“Come in,” Keith said, frowning at how rough his voice sounded.

The door slid open and Keith was not surprised to see that Lance was standing there. Keith looked down at his knees. When had he stopped being surprised by Lance turning up at his door?

“Hey,” Lance said softly, “You’re awake.”

“Yeah,” Keith replied.

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Keith lied, tucking his knees up to his chest.

He probably should have assumed that wouldn’t work, and Lance’s expression told him it hadn’t.

“I doubt that, seeing as though you dropped,” Lance argued, making his way into the room.

“Then why did you ask?”

Lance shrugged. “Because I want to know how you’re feeling. I know you’re not fine, but not exactly how you feel.”

Keith let out a long breath, laying his head on his knees. He shuffled over slightly, nodding down at the bed beside him. Lance took the invitation, swinging himself to sit beside Keith. They were pressed together from shoulder to ankle, which Keith shouldn’t find embarrassing (they’d shared a nest for goodness sake) but his cheeks still went a little pink.

“So?” Lance prompted.

Keith sighed. “My head hurts, I’m exhausted, thirsty, and hungry,” he admitted.

“Do you want me to go get you something to eat?”

The thought of Lance leaving made Keith’s heart start to hammer. Instinctually he moved closer. Lance seemed to understand, grabbing Keith’s comm off the bedside table and asking Hunk to bring him something.

“You gave Allura quite the fright you know.”

Keith groaned, burying his face in his knees. “I need to apologise.”

“Nah, she’s alright. We explained to her what happened. Just, don’t train yourself to drop again, okay?”

Keith curled his hands into fists, letting out a long breath.

“Keith,” Lance murmured, leaning into him, “You can’t keep doing this to yourself. This is too far.”

Keith looked away, fighting against his exhaustion and pounding head. He didn’t know which was worse: how he felt now or having to face his own emotions without training.

“Keith,” Lance urged.

Giving into his weakness, Keith lay his head against Lance’s shoulder. Lance tensed a little, but soon his arm slid around Keith’s waist.

“I’ll try,” Keith conceded, “Okay? I’ll try.”

****

** Shrill Two – Fear **

Although they were getting better, so much better than when they started, Keith knew he was not a great leader. And with Shiro back, that fact was becoming so much more pronounced. Every single one of Keith’s decisions seemed to be second-guessed and doubted. It made Keith start to doubt himself. In the middle of battle, this doubt was disastrous.

Shiro seemed to be extra on his back today, questioning every little decision Keith was making. The fight wasn’t even supposed to be that difficult. A small fleet of Galra advancing on a planet; Voltron simply had to stop them before they made land.

Shiro was barking out orders over Keith’s and it was really starting to annoy him. How was _this_ becoming more stressful than before Shiro came back?

“Shiro, I don’t think—” Keith started, but was immediately cut off.

“No,” Shiro snapped, “We need to get them farther away from the planet. Lure them more into space.”

“We can’t do that while we’re pinned down!” Keith argued, “We need to focus on bringing them down right here!”

“No, we need to get them away!” Shiro repeated, voice hardening.

Keith felt a chill go down his back, his omega side wanting to obey. He’d… never felt that way with Shiro before. Shiro never used his alpha command voice and, although it wasn’t quite full force, it was close enough.

“No offense, Shiro,” Lance cut in, “But you can’t see what’s going down here. If we try to retreat, they’ll shoot us down.”

Shiro growled quietly, but seemed to concede the point. Keith was grateful for that, and especially to Lance for backing him up.

“Okay,” Pidge said, “Speaking of being pinned down… Help.”

“On my way,” Allura responded.

Just as Keith whirled around to provide backup, he saw something that made his heart drop to his boots. One of the rouge ships shot the Green Lion, knocking Pidge out of the sky. She was caught up in the planet’s gravity, sending her hurtling down towards the surface.

Everyone yelled out Pidge’s name as she continued to tumble out of control.

“I can’t pull up!” she cried.

This was all Keith’s fault. If he’d just listened to Shiro, if he’d just been faster, if he wasn’t the leader, if Shiro was in Black instead. So many doubts whirled around in his head.

“Keith! Keith!” Lance was shouting, “Keith, stop!”

Keith faltered, realising he had been shrilling in panic. It took longer than he wanted to stop himself, so many deep breaths and trying to focus on the other’s voices.

“You back with us?” Lance asked after an eternity.

“Yeah,” Keith croaked, voice a little hoarse.

The comms crackled and Pidge’s voice sounded over them.

“I’m ok,” she said.

There was a collective sigh of relief and Keith slumped down in his seat.

“I’ll see if I can get Green up and running again,” she continued, “I don’t know how long it will be. She took a pretty hard hit.”

“Alright, don’t rush, we can take it from here.” Keith took a deep breath. “Let’s get this finished.”

Maybe it _would_ be better for the team if Keith left, if Shiro returned to the Black Lion. But Black wouldn’t let Shiro fly her right now. Keith needed to find a way to force them to work together again. He just needed a plan.

****

** Drop Two – Emotional Turmoil **

It had been a harrowing experience, pushing Keith to his very limit and beyond. Not only was he seeing his friends, his _pack_ , for the first time in two years—which would have been enough on its own—but there wasn’t even any time for Keith to absorb the reunion before he was thrust back into the fighting again.

Having to fight Shiro almost destroyed him. He just had to remember that this was not Shiro. He was not fighting Shiro. Maybe the real Shiro was in there somewhere.

Keith had never given up hope, and it had paid off! But it had been an incredibly rough time.

He had Shiro back. He had his pack back. They were going back to Earth. It was _fantastic_. The edges of Keith’s vision were starting to blur, his head was starting to pound, and he was starting to get dizzy. Keith registered a second too late that he was going to drop. He opened his mouth to try and warn everyone, but he couldn’t get any words out.

“Keith?” Krolia asked, concerned.

Keith swayed, before falling. There wasn’t really fighting off a drop once it started, although hitting the ground would probably hurt.

“Oh shoot, he’s dropping,” Lance called out.

Arms curled around him quickly, softening Keith’s fall. He landed against a chest, that was unfortunately covered in hard armour. With his last vestiges of conscious, Keith registered a warm, comforting scent. A familiar alpha’s scent. Lance’s scent.

****

Keith came to some time later. His eyes flickered open and he glanced around, a slight smile coming to his face. He was in the Black Lion, Cosmo splayed across his chest, surrounded by familiar scents.

“Keith!” Krolia said, making her way over to his bed, “You’re awake.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, rubbing his eye.

She hovered around him slightly. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Keith reassured, “It was just a drop. How’s everyone else?”

Krolia sighed, shooting him a look. “They’re fine. Everyone is resting, as you should be.”

“Yeah, okay,” Keith said, turning onto his side.

It took a minute for Keith to realise the blankets surrounding him were thoroughly saturated by the scent of his pack. Keith hummed, nestling down into them, and grabbed one from the pile, pulling it close to himself. It wasn’t a blanket; it was Lance’s jacket. He buried his face in the material, smiling slightly. In spite of everything, it was good to be back.

****

** Shrill Three – Injury **

War didn’t end when they got back to Earth. The Galra were beaten back, but not defeated. They were fractured though and a bit lost. The Galra Empire was coming to an end and all they needed was one last push. It was exhausting and stressful, but at least Keith got himself a boyfriend out of all this mess.

They were currently infiltrating a Galra base, trying to disarm their weapons systems. There were a few sentries and some guards, but nothing too extensive, so they’d split up to take down the four ion cannons at the four corners of the base, with Lance somewhere up in the roof keeping an eye on them all. Keith was confident in what they were doing, which is why what happened next was a complete surprise.

Their Paladin armour was tough; it had saved their asses so many times it was impossible to count. However, they weren’t invisible. Say, for example, someone were to sneak up behind them and use a very sharp sword to stab through the bodysuit section, it would go through.

Keith screamed as the sword was driven through his gut, agony radiating from the wound. The sword was removed and Keith dropped to the ground, clutching the wound. He rolled over to look up at his attacker. A huge Galra stood over him, sword dripping with blood as they raised it again.

Instincts flew to the surface, and Keith let out a loud, agonised shrill. Galra didn’t have secondary sexes, so it was a bit of a surprise when the Galra faltered. It bought him enough time though. A shot rang out and the Galra fell, a new hole clean through their head.

Keith breathed out a sigh of relief, wincing as agony instantly seared through him. Lance dropped down from wherever he’d been hiding and ran over. His hands hovered over Keith, seemingly at a complete loss.

“I… Keith… damn,” Lance flattered for a moment, then his expression hardened, “We need to get you out of here.”

“I didn’t deactivate the ion cannon,” Keith argued, voice weak.

“Yeah okay, now is not the time,” Lance countered, before activating his comms, “Someone needs to come deactivate the north cannon. Keith’s in bad shape and I need to get him out of here.”

“I’ll head over there now,” Allura responded, “I’m all done with mine.”

“Okay,” Lance said, “Right, looks like you’re not going to bleed out immediately. This might hurt.”

Lance tucked his hands under Keith’s knees and behind his back, hauling Keith up into his arms. Pain radiated from the wound and Keith cried out.

“Sorry, sorry,” Lance babbled, settling Keith against his chest.

“‘m okay,” Keith said, “Just hurts.”

“Well yeah, you’ve got a massive stomach wound,” Lance pointed out, starting to run.

Keith groaned at each step, closing his eyes and hissing.

“Don’t pass out,” Lance instructed.

“I’m not,” Keith grit out.

The haze of pain muddled Keith’s brain and all he seemed to be able to focus on was the fact that, even after his two-year time jump, Lance could still pick him up.

“You can carry me,” Keith slurred slightly.

“What?” Lance asked, not looking down at him or slowing.

“You can carry me, ‘s hot.”

“That’s a strange thing to notice when you’re bleeding out,” Lance said, taking a corner, “Besides with this much adrenaline I could probably pick up a bus.”

“I don’t weigh as much as a bus,” Keith protested.

“Never said you did, honey.”

Keith huffed softly.

“Hang on a little longer. Were almost there.”

“I’m hanging on,” Keith grumbled, “Don’t worry about me.”

“I’ll always worry about you,” Lance sighed.

Keith rubbed his nose to the underside of Lance’s jaw.

****

Keith tumbled out of the healing pod and straight into a warm, broad chest.

“Keith!” everyone called out.

“Hey,” Lance asked softly, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m alright,” Keith answered, getting his legs stabilised under him.

“That was a pretty nasty wound,” Coran remarked, then gestured to one of the beds. “Hop up here. I’ll make sure you’re all healed up.”

“I’ll go make you something to eat,” Hunk said.

With that, everyone dispersed and Keith made his way over to the bed, keeping his hand locked firmly around Lance’s.

He was fine, wound all healed. He ate the stew Hunk had cooked up before heading to bed to get some proper rest.

“Hey, honey,” Lance said, reaching out a hand.

Keith smiled, taking Lance’s hand. “Hi.”

Lance tugged him down and onto the bed, wrapping him in a hug, began to press kisses all over Keith’s face. Keith grinned and chuckled, squirming slightly in Lance’s arms.

“Lance! Lance, stop,” Keith laughed, pushing Lance’s face away.

Lance made a muffled noise, wriggling a little.

“If you’re going to kiss me, do it properly,” Keith insisted, looping his arms around Lance’s neck.

Darting forwards, Keith practically slammed their lips together. Lance made a noise that was a mixture of a surprise and amusement, and Keith took this opportunity to push his tongue forwards into Lance’s mouth.

Lance pulled away with a chuckle. “So, you get horny after near death experiences. Noted.”

“Shut up,” Keith growled, pulling him in for another kiss.

****

** Drop Three – Feral Drop **

Keith was woken up by a scream. He jerked up, searching around for the danger. There wasn’t anything, just him and Lance in their bedroom. Lance, who was currently curled up sobbing. It took a moment for Keith to realise what was happening and what to do about it.

“Lance,” Keith called out gently, reaching out a hand, “Hey, Lance, it’s okay.”

Lance jerked away slightly, taking several shuddering breaths.

“Oh, Lance, it’s okay, I’m here, you’re safe,” Keith said soothingly.

Lance’s head raised off his knees, Keith reached over to turn the lighting up a little in their room. Lance’s eyes were red, filled with tears. His breath hitched in his chest as he finally focused on Keith.

“Keith?” he croaked, hiccupping.

“Lance,” Keith said gently, reaching out again.

Lance fell forwards into his arms, curling up against Keith’s chest. Keith held him close, rubbing up and down Lance’s back softly.

Ever since they’d managed to get Lance back from being captured, he’d been suffering from nightmares. Not surprising given everything he’d been though, but it still broke Keith’s heart every time Lance woke up screaming and sobbing. All he could do was hold Lance tight and let him cry.

Cosmo wriggled closer, Keith pushed him away to stop him trying to lick Lance’s face.

“Down boy, he’s okay,” Keith said.

That was probably the furthest thing from the truth, but Cosmo didn’t need to know that. The wolf grumbled softly, but lay back down at the bottom of their bed.

Eventually Lance’s sobs stopped, his shoulder stilling as he burrowed his way closer to Keith.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Lance shook his head.

“Okay,” Keith said, laying the two of them down, “Okay, do you want to try going back to sleep?”

Lance shook his head. “Could you talk?”

“I… ah… sure,” Keith stuttered, scrambling for something to talk about.

He finally settled on the talk he and his mum had had yesterday. It was mostly uninteresting things about the Blade, but if it kept Lance’s mind off his nightmare Keith would blabber about it all day. He rubbed his hand up and down Lance’s spine, feeling him relax slowly. Lance was getting better, very very slowly, frustratingly slowly, but he was getting there.

****

The issue with being a part of Voltron was either nothing was happening or _everything_ was happening. Keith didn’t want to put Lance on another mission, not so soon after getting him back. He didn’t really have a choice though. They needed Lance there.

Keith could admit he was hovering. He could also admit it was probably unnecessary. Didn’t mean he was going to stop doing it. Lance seemed okay with it, or tolerated it enough to not say anything. The two of them were making their way down a corridor, glancing from side to side as they moved closer to where they were meeting up with Pidge and Hunk in the main control room.

“Keith!” Lance called out a warning, shooting somewhere down the corridor.

Keith moved without thinking, stepping protectively in front of Lance. The aliens they were facing were very clearly not of a single species, and in mismatched armour. They were surprisingly well organised though, but nothing compared to the team that was Keith and Lance.

The fight was going smoothly, until Keith heard Lance swear. He turned, spotting some other aliens that had come up behind them unnoticed. They’d grabbed Lance, twisting his arm to force him to drop his bayard. They just kept twisting though and, although the wound on his shoulder had healed, it was still tender.

Lance was in pain. Lance was in pain and caught. Keith’s brain shut down, instincts surging to the forefront of his mind. They were going to take him away. Keith was going to loose him again. They were hurting his alpha, _his Lance_. Keith hissed and everything fell away as he lunged.

He moved through them easily, lashing out with his sword. Keith cut them down like they were nothing, vision narrowing to Lance, Lance, he needed to get to Lance. Keith wasn’t in control of his own body, his instincts completely ruling him. He took down every enemy around them, shaking with adrenaline. Darkness was taking over him again; he wasn’t even in his right enough mind to realise he was dropping.

****

Keith jerked awake, tensing all over with a slight hiss. It took a few minutes for him to realise where he was, and even longer for him to clear the haze from his mind. He was in somewhere dark and small, in a nest, surrounded by his and Lance’s scent. Speaking of Lance.

“Keith?” Lance called gently from outside, “Are you… have you come around?”

He was in their hide, tucked away in a nest Lance must have built him. He was safe and comfortable here, but, why wasn’t Lance with him?

Reaching out, Keith slid open the door to their hide, frowning slightly when he felt something on his chest. He looked down, to the small sticky pads attached there, monitoring his heart rate. Keith crawled out of the hide, eyes landing on Lance who was sitting on the bed.

“What happened?” Keith asked, wiggling the whole way out.

Lance stood up, scrambling over to help Keith up and out. Curling his arms around Lance’s shoulders, Keith buried his face in Lance’s neck.

“What happened?” Keith asked again, nuzzling under his ear.

“You went feral.”

Keith stiffened, leaning back a little. “What?”

“You went feral,” Lance repeated, “Took them all down by yourself, your eyes went all Galra-y too.”

“Oh,” Keith said, “No wonder my head hurts.”

“It was a little bit of an overreaction,” Lance commented, rubbing his hand up and down Keith’s back, “Not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment.”

“I thought they were going to take you from me,” Keith murmured into Lance’s chest, “I thought I was going to loose you again.”

“Oh,” Lance sighed sadly, “Oh, honey.”

He tugged Keith away from himself slightly, cupping his cheek.

“I can’t lose you again,” Keith stated, “I can’t have you go through that again.”

“It’s okay,” Lance assured, “I’m okay, we’re okay.”

“I know, I just,” Keith sighed, “I care about you so much.”

Lance bumped their foreheads together. “Sap.”

Keith snorted, “We were having a moment, and you ruined it.”

“Well, I don’t know what you were expecting,” Lance said, smiling gently.

Rolling his eyes, Keith pulled the two of them to the bed, falling down with a bounce. There was a nest already built on the bed, so Keith snuggled down, tucking Lance against his chest.

“Do you want me to take those sensors off?” Lance asked, reaching blindly behind him.

Keith grabbed the command tablet from the bedside table, typing in the code to deactivate the sensors. Pulling them out from under his shirt, Keith set everything back on the table.

“I could have done that,” Lance said, “You should be resting.”

“I am resting,” Keith countered, closing his eyes, “You should be quiet so I can rest.”

Lance laughed softly, his hands slipping under Keith’s shirt to rest on his bare skin. Somehow, that made Keith relax completely. Instincts were strange.

“I love you,” Lance murmured quietly, nosing at Keith’s collarbone.

Keith smiled softly. “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ta dah! Have another...Keith is having a bit of a rough time :(
> 
> I have a very busy six weeks up ahead of me, so I don't know if I'm going to be able to get another one written until I have some more spare time. I might, I don't know...so don't expect anything any time soon...but there might be... (That probably makes no sense)
> 
> Anyway, comments and kudos are always appreciated, I hope you enjoyed...thanks for reading!


End file.
